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Celebrity Home Deals and Price Cuts

Everything that glitters is not gold—though in today’s market, many celebrities may wish they’d invested in metals, not mansions. With news of home resales dropping a massive 27% in July, buyers of all budgets are hurting, not least of all celebrity homeowners. Christina Aguilera has had to shave $2 million off the asking price of her Los Angeles mansion, and Hollywood sweetheart Meg Ryan couldn’t charm her way to closing on her $19.5 million Bel Air home. Find out what these and other celebrities are doing to get their properties sold, and at what cost to their bottom line.

Comedian Eddie Murphy is in no laughing mood after having to relist his $30 million Englewood, New Jersey home for nearly half the price.When buyers turned down the ask on his palatial eight-bedroom, 11-bath, all-brick 32 room mansion, he was forced to relist at a fraction of the price. The gated estate includes a racquet-ball court, indoor pool pavilion, two-lane bowling alley, and a professional music recording studio. (For those who remember his heyday in the 80s, Murphy did, in fact, like to “Party All the Time.?) Yet even after a massive reduction, the home remains on the market. He recently dropped the price again to $12,750,000.

Can’t a diva catch a break? Pop star Christina Aguilera first listed her Hollywood Hills home in 2008 at $7.995 million, but it’s languished on the market ever since. Two years later, the four-bedroom, seven-bathroom estate (total square footage: 6,500) has seen its fair share of price reductions. Even after a dazzling remodeling job, including a screening room that seats 18, a gym and 12-person spa, the LA manse has dipped to a $5.995 million asking price. Aguilera is in good company, though. A recent survey of the star-studded neighborhood showed that the median price of homes has dropped nearly 20 percent in the last year.

The late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, will be remembered for a number of talents—but property management isn’t one of them. After two years off the market, the 17,000-square foot Bel Air mansion that was the site of Jackson’s fatal propofol overdose is back on the market, but at a $10 million price reduction. Like the rest of Jackson’s estates, this three-story faux-French chateau is comically lavish. Features include seven bedrooms, 13 baths, a wine cellar and tasting room, a theater, an art studio and a guest house. The house was originally leased to Jackson for $100,000 a month by the titan of tacky Hubert Guez, CEO of clothing brand Ed Hardy.

Actress and Hollywood darling Meg Ryan’s Bel Air home is about as charming as she is, but the price wasn’t right. The stunning 6,877-square-foot Spanish-style mansion has resort-style grounds with a pool, panoramic views of the Pacific, and airy open archways. The estate is located within a gated compound and boasts six bedrooms and seven baths. But at $19.5 million in 2008, no one was biting. After a $5 million price drop in 2009, Ryan decided it was time to take more drastic measures. She put up the home for rent at $40,000 a month. With a glut of luxury homes on the market, high-end leasing is becoming a more popular option for frustrated celebrity sellers these days.

After swearing to leave New York because of high property taxes, conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh finally made good on his promise—albeit at $2 million less than he anticipated. He unloaded his 10-room penthouse condominium on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue for approximately $11.5 million, down from his listing price of $13.95 million. The posh apartment has a 30-foot-wide living room, a fireplace and four terraces overlooking Central Park. But unlike some of the other celebs on the list, Limbaugh was well prepared for a dip in prices. He bought the property for a paltry $5 million in 1994—right at the tail end of another housing decline.

Not all celebrity sales take place in the shadow of the Hollywood sign. Folk singer Carole King recently relisted her 128-acre Idaho ranch for $16 million. King, who has lived in Idaho since 1981, dropped the price of the estate from $19 million in a bid to signal to buyers that the impressive property is still available. The estate resides on a piece of private park along a national forest near Stanley, Idaho. The massive compound houses a professional recording studio, a 7,300-square-foot lodge, a private residence, a caretaker’s home, horse barns, and even guest cabins. It was first listed at its original price in 2006, but had to be taken off the market to adhere with bridge repairs on a U.S Forest Service road.

“Empty-nester? is not the first word that comes to mind with rocker Ozzy Osbourne and TV host wife Sharon Osbourne. But when the power couple decided it was time to downsize from their 4,500-square-foot Malibu Beach House, scaring up prospective buyers proved more difficult than expected. The five-bedroom, five-bath home first appeared on the scene in 2006 at an asking price of $14 million. But after an eventual price reduction to $10.95 million and an occasional lease agreement (reportedly for $25,000 a month), the home is for rent once again—this time for $40,000 a month. And for those wary of Ozzy’s sometimes questionable taste (giant crucifixes and candelabra), the Malibu home is surprisingly devoid of such surprises. The three-story beach house bears a white-on-white decorating scheme, wood floors, and an outdoor hot tub with stellar views.

When political correspondent and “Good Morning America? host George Stephanopoulos decided to move to New York to be closer to work, he first had to unload his exquisite Georgetown estate. The 5,652-square-foot, Georgian-style brick mansion first listed at $6,350,000, but after hard-nosed negotiations, Stephanopoulos was reportedly happy to sell the estate for around $1 million less. To top it off, he agreed to pay $42,000 in maintenance and repairs, including the cost of fixing his personal elevator.

“Private Practice? star Kate Walsh is having a hard time selling her ultra hip home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. She first bought the property in 2007 for $4.75 million, but is listing it for $4.295 million, a loss of $455,000. Worse still, comparable sales in the trendy, though no-less-susceptible-to-recession neighborhood, suggest that the house may ultimately sell for around $3.5 million. That’s a $1.2 million loss.